DIY Shasta County Bear

TRICER

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Dec 20, 2014
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I want to hunt bear. I don't want to do a guided hunt I want to backpack out into the wilderness and get it done. From my research Shasta has the best population in the state. I have a buddy who lives in Redding that I am sure I could get out with me. If not I am sure I can get someone on the hunt. Has anyone done a DIY bear hunt in the Shasta area? I am not after a trophy I just want to put some meat in the freezer and have the experience of hunting a bear.
For those of you that have DIY bear before what is your advice. If anyone has hunted the area and wants to PM me with some general area tips it would be much appreciated. From my ONX maps it looks like a ton of public wilderness is available to hunt. With 6 months to plan I should be able to get myself well prepared before I go. I am sure I will be putting in a ton of miles and spending a lot of time glassing. With two guys we should be able to pack out a bear evening it takes us 3 or 4 trips each. I would probably make the trip the end of November early December.
 
Sounds like a fun trip Drew. I bet your chances will be good since it's illegal to hunt with dogs, so Population should be up.
I only know a little about it, but at that time of year they'll be at higher elevations. Look for a town or farmland/orchards at elevation above 5K feet, where there is food for them. Ask around for sightings and depredation info (have any been killed by the farmers as a nuisance. I presume you'll get better intel in areas where the Bears are a nuisance.
 
Drew,

Let me prefix this with I've never killed a bear or even hunted for them. But when I used to hunt mountain quail up above Lake Isabella off of Mt. Hwy 99 (Johnsondale/Roads End/Sherman Pass Rd.) in the early season (September). I always saw tons of bear sign and was told that this area had one of the best densities of bears in California.....Lot closer to home, beautiful country, and national forest.

Best of luck on this adventure.
 
5k foot elevations sounds like my kind of hunt. Be cool if there was snow on the ground might make it easier to track also.

Steve te place you are talking about sounds interesting maybe the boys and I can do a few day backpacking trip during the summer to investigate. Are there any lakes in the hills? Nothing better then a few trout over the fire.
 
Theres a reason why you get a ticket if you don't use bear boxes and leave food in your tent or truck in the Eastern Sierras around Mammoth... Just saying...
 
CaptJgray said:
Theres a reason why you get a ticket if you don't use bear boxes and leave food in your tent or truck in the Eastern Sierras around Mammoth... Just saying...
Good point love that country! Now everyone has me thinking of a bunch of different places to research. I am going to start putting a lot of research time in.
 
The Bears are also thick around the camp grounds in the Angeles Forrest. They have bear boxes, and warning signs and I've seen many tracks in the morning as well as first snow of the season. They are hard to find in hunt able areas though.
 
GSPman said:
The Bears are also thick around the camp grounds in the Angeles Forrest. They have bear boxes, and warning signs and I've seen many tracks in the morning as well as first snow of the season. They are hard to find in hunt able areas though.

Ya I have heard that is a hard hunt. That is why Shasta is so intriguing a lot more land available for hunting. It gets me excited thinking about it definately want to get after it after deer season. Could be some great backpacking trips during the summer to get prepared and scout. Best thing would probably be getting out into some of the small towns and just talking to the locals.
 
I've been up there twice this year so far, I have a friend who is kind of a legendary bear hunter (well at least to me). He lives up there in Burney and I would bet there is more bear in the area you are talking about than anywhere else in the state. He has drawers full of pic's of bear that he either killed or just chased and treed. Tons of bear up there. Everything up there is named bear something, bear this and bear that hahaha.

Good luck, and have fun.
 
Lots of places to hunt bear in CA.

I will preface the same as Trig. I also have never killed a bear. Carried a tag at times in CA when deer hunting but that is it. I have had buddies that have killed bears and targeted them specifically.

I would say to pick a spot and go with it. Shasta is a very good area to go to, but of course there are others.

It sounds like you aren't looking for a campsite bear. You want to pack in and kill a bruin. Bears can be hunted similar to deer. They bed on North slopes and will feed on south and east slopes. Look for big lush basins that time of year. They are going to spend a lot of the day rooting and digging grubs and whatever else they can find.

With the dedication and time you are planning to put in this year there is no reason why you shouldn't be glassing up bears come fall.

If you find them. Don't tell us where.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
 
Thanks for the insight. I think it will be a lot of pre planning and when I get there a ton of glassing will do the trick. Not to mention a little luck never hurts. Trust me if I find them I will tell you where. I found them in the hills by some trees and there were some rocks in the area. :p
 
Michael951 said:
I've been up there twice this year so far, I have a friend who is kind of a legendary bear hunter (well at least to me). He lives up there in Burney and I would bet there is more bear in the area you are talking about than anywhere else in the state. He has drawers full of pic's of bear that he either killed or just chased and treed. Tons of bear up there. Everything up there is named bear something, bear this and bear that hahaha.

Good luck, and have fun.

Do you think your buddy would take a call from me. I don't want to know his spots, but any insight I could get on the country up there where to look for them late in the season etc. would be awesome. Nothing beats local knowledge.
 
Truduct said:
Michael951 said:
I've been up there twice this year so far, I have a friend who is kind of a legendary bear hunter (well at least to me). He lives up there in Burney and I would bet there is more bear in the area you are talking about than anywhere else in the state. He has drawers full of pic's of bear that he either killed or just chased and treed. Tons of bear up there. Everything up there is named bear something, bear this and bear that hahaha.

Good luck, and have fun.

Do you think your buddy would take a call from me. I don't want to know his spots, but any insight I could get on the country up there where to look for them late in the season etc. would be awesome. Nothing beats local knowledge.

PM sent
 
s14slide said:
Truduct, are you planning on doing a rifle or archery hunt?
For the first hunt it will be rifle. The archery season does open like a month earlier though. The seasons start with deer season and then go until the DFG quota is met or December 31 Now that dogs can't get used the quota is going up but not being met. Give it a few more years and there will be a lot more bear. DFG is going to be shooting a lot more as well.
 
Never hunted bears in CA, but I know In Washington if you could find some berry patches, bears were surely close by.. Berries in WA usually started to ripen around Sept or so depending on the weather. I'll be out there with a bear tag this year too man. Good luck! If I find anything on my Summer scouting I'll let you know. Good luck and stay safe out there!
 
Rest assured, there are many many black bears in the Shasta Area. All B and C zones are thick with Blackies. Pick a lake or small body of water, and start there. Pay closer attention to the North slopes, spend a lot of time glassing and get as far away from civilization as you can. Educate yourself on the "after the shot" field care. Hunt high. Bears a have terrific nose. If you still have trouble finding one, use some apple juice concentrate as after shave in the morning. You might have all the bears you can handle then!! But dont let them nibble on you, you will be in violation :)
 
Did you ever go on this hunt?

If I don't draw an elk tag for Sept I am looking at a bear/deer hunt up north. I just talked to the D8 biologist along with reading pretty much everything on the CDFW bear page. I'm still trying to figure out the area.
 
Did you ever go on this hunt?

If I don't draw an elk tag for Sept I am looking at a bear/deer hunt up north. I just talked to the D8 biologist along with reading pretty much everything on the CDFW bear page. I'm still trying to figure out the area.
I did not but I was just thinking about it yesterday. I always end up drawing an out of state tag and neve make this one happen.
 
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The area Steve was referring to is D8, I saw bears every time I hunted that zone. Ran into a few bear hunters who hunted it every year. But that was when one could run dogs. I'm sure there are still many bears in that area.
 

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