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Do you want to hunt brown bears? Are you interested in learning how to hunt brown bears? Brown bears are challenging to hunt as they are difficult to kill, are one of the biggest bears, and are apt to attack you if you get too close to them or shoot and injured them. In this article, we share information and knowledge to help you successfully hunt brown bears.

How To Hunt Brown Bears
How To Hunt Brown Bears

How To Hunt Brown Bears

1. Scouting Brown Bears

Do pre-season scouting to get information on brown bears. You want to find possible food sources, dens, and travel routes. Look for signs of bear activities like rubs on trees, huge claw and teeth marks, overturned rocks, shredded stumps, fish carcasses, and bones of carrion. Brown bears eat fish like salmon, green grass shoots, berries, fruits, other mammals, etc.

Additionally, before going to the area to scout, you can study satellite images from Google Earth or hunting apps like HuntWise, HuntStand, or onX to identify possible den sites, streams, food sources, and travel routes. If you are hunting in winter or spring, look for bear tracks in the snow.

2. Spot & Stalk Hunting

The spot and stalking hunting method is one of the commonly used methods to hunt brown bears. To spot and stalk brown bears, you have to find a high point that is not too far from the area bears are usually spotted and undercover, glass the area with binoculars, or spotting scopes for bears. When you spot a brown bear that wants to drop, you have to silently and carefully stalk the bear.

Brown bears have a very good sense of smell and if they pick up your odor, they will quickly leave for their dens. Hence, you have to stalk the bear with the wind in your face to avoid the bear picking up your odor. Additionally, as much as possible, you want to use any cover as you quietly stalk the bear. Bears have a good sense of picking up movement and as you stalk the bear, you have to reduce body movements as much as possible to not be detected by the bear.

Tricks For Hunting Brown Bears
Tricks For Hunting Brown Bears

3. Baiting

You can use baits to hunt brown bears. Use foods that bears eat like salmon and other foods with a smelly odor to attract brown bears to your bait. When using bait, place the bait pile in a location where bears feel secure to come to it but also be within your shooting range from your treestand or hunting spot.

Dead animals, smelly fish, fruits, and other foods can be used as bait piles. If you use treestands when hunting brown bears, how to hunt from a tree stand will give you tips to be more successful when using treestands.

4. Still-Hunting

Still-hunting can also be used to hunt brown bears. When still-hunting, you track and stalk bears until you can get within shooting range of them to take a good shot. With still-hunting, you want to use trees and other vegetation to break your image as you watch the bears and slowly and quietly get closer to them. When you are about 100 yards or closer to the bear and
remain unnoticed, you want to take a good shot to drop it.

Tips For Hunting Brown Bears
Tips For Hunting Brown Bears

5. Hound Hunting

Hounds can also be used to hunt brown bears. You can use hounds to pick up the trail of bears and track them down. This allows you and your hunting partners to follow the dogs until the bear is cornered or treed. With the bear holed up in a tree or hollow log, you and your hunting partners can determine if it is a bear you want to take down and go for it.

6. Glassing

Glassing is very important when hunting brown bears. You need high-quality optics to search for bears in open areas, valleys, fields, and other areas to locate bears. It is always good to locate a high elevation with some cover that is not far away from the area you want to search for bears. Additionally, also take into consideration the direction of the wind before setting up the location. It has to be downwind of the areas where you will search for bears.

Ideas For Hunting Brown Bears
Ideas For Hunting Brown Bears

7. Ambush Hunting

Ambush hunting is another method used by hunters to hunt brown bears. To implement this hunting method, you find travel routes between dens and food sources and set up your hunting spot or treestand slightly off the travel route but not out of shooting range.

When bears are moving from their dens to find food, you can then ambush them and drop the one you want. It is always better to set up your hunting spot closer to the den and hunt early in the morning or late in the evening. If you are interested in buying treestands, you can read a review of the best climbing treestands on the market.

8. Wind Direction

The wind direction is very important when hunting brown bears. They have a very good sense of smell and will pick up your scent if you don’t hunt downwind of them. Always face the wind when you hunt brown bears whether you are using the spot and stalk method, still-hunting, ambush hunting, or glassing for bears.

Ideas For Brown Bear Hunting
Ideas For Brown Bear Hunting

Brown Bear Hunting Tips

1. Brown bears have a very good sense of smell and hearing.

2. The eyesight of brown bears is not the best.

Hunting Brown Bears
Hunting Brown Bears

3. Brown bears usually travel alone.

4. Always hunt downwind of the bear as they have a good sense of smell.

Hunting Brown Bear Tips
Hunting Brown Bear Tips

5. Brown bears have a distinct walking sound that you can hear within 100 feet.

6. Baiting can be used to hunt brown bears.

Hunting Brown Bear Ideas
Hunting Brown Bear Ideas

7. Use treestands to hunt brown bears.

8. Spot & stalk is one of the popular hunting methods for brown bears.

9. Still-hunting can also be used to hunt brown bears.

10. Use high-quality optics such as binoculars and spotting scopes to glass for brown bears. If you are interested in binoculars or spotting scopes, you can read reviews of the best hunting binoculars and the best spotting scopes on the market today.

Brown Bear Hunting Tricks
Brown Bear Hunting Tricks

11. When scouting for brown bears look for shredded stumps, overturned rocks, dead fish and animal carcasses, human head-high tooth and claw marks on trees, etc.

12. Ambush hunting is another method used to hunt brown bears.

Brown Bear Hunting Ideas
Brown Bear Hunting Ideas

13. The best time to hunt brown bears is the early morning and late evening.

Brown Bear Hunting Tips
Brown Bear Hunting Tips
What is the best caliber for brown bear hunting?
One of the best calibers for hunting brown bears is the 270 or .30-06 rifle with 200- or 220-grain Nosler.
Where is the best place to shoot a brown bear?
The best place to shoot a brown bear is behind the front shoulder and take the shot when the bear moves forward with its near side leg thus exposing the heart and lung area.
What is the best time of day to hunt bear?
The best time to hunt bears is early morning and late evening.
Do you stand your ground against a brown bear?
The best strategy, when confronted by a brown bear, is to calmly let the bear realize that you are a human. You can do this by calmly talking to the bear and waving your arms. Let it realize that you are not a prey animal. Stand your ground and calmly talk to it so it becomes convinced you are a human. It might come closer to smell you to confirm that you are a human.
What smells attract bears the most?
Bears have a very good sense of smell. Any smelly food like salmon or dead animals will bring bears to check it out.
What color are bears most attracted to?
In 2000, Alaska behavior scientists determined that bears were more attracted to their yellow and blue tents than their camouflaged tents. They also figured that grizzly bears can distinguish between colors.

The Bottom Line

Hunting brown bears is very challenging and dangerous. Brown bears have a good sense of smell and hearing that they use to hunt prey and evade predators. Brown bears are one of the largest bears and can attack you if you injured them or get too close to them.

Brown bears are difficult to kill therefore you need a powerful bullet to drop them. In this article, we discussed the methods and strategies to have a successful hunt of brown bears. If you are also interested in hunting black bears, then read how to hunt black bears. You can also read how to hunt black bears.

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