Using decoys when calling bears: anyone tried it?

[Newpond0]

I’m thinking about ordering a Montana decoy but read guys who bought them didn’t think it was worth the hassle plus the wind blowing it around. My little spinning fur decoy didn’t make much difference for me last year either. What are your thoughts?

Edit: I read a story a few years back about a guy having a realistic looking teddy bear on a remote controlled little truck. Driving that truck around made it look like a moving cub combined with a cub distress call. Supposedly a boar came and tore the thing up

 

[AWS]

Bears have poor distance vision but can discern movement well. So it would seem that a stationary Montana or Flambeau fawn decoy would be more effort than they are worth.

Now wearing a brown coat and crawling around the caller might be effective(try at your own risk) and have back up you trust.

 

[Slagiatt]

I dont think its necessary at all. I just sit against a tree and blow on a call and bears come right in close. They dont hang up watching like a cat.

 

[WMFerguson]

That's an interesting tactic and I'm far from an expert. However, I don't think you need one. I've killed alot of bears (not bragging, BTW) but it has only been spot and stalk, baiting, and hounds. I've bever called in a bear except by accident, while elk hunting and the bear was just a little guy, so he got to live. IMHO, bears rely on their noses far more than other senses. For example, the last bear I killed, I stayed downwind and walked within 20 yards of him. I was wearing a ghillie hood and he didn't know what to think. He saw me and only startled after I shot him.

 

[Polock]

I wasn't aware you could call bears. What kind of call do you use? Used to hunt bears up in Montana but it was all spot and stalk, used to be lots of bears up there. Here in Oregon they're supposed to be a good number up in the mountains outside of Sister's. Gonna start looking around there to see if I can spot any! Supposed to be a lot in the coast range also but when I lived in those mountain's I only ever ran into one.

 

[Newpond0]

I wasn't aware you could call bears. What kind of call do you use? Used to hunt bears up in Montana but it was all spot and stalk, used to be lots of bears up there. Here in Oregon they're supposed to be a good number up in the mountains outside of Sister's. Gonna start looking around there to see if I can spot any! Supposed to be a lot in the coast range also but when I lived in those mountain's I only ever ran into one.

I’ve had 1 charging down the mountain towards the lightning Jack call last year but he never showed up close enough for me to get a shot. I went thru a whole bunch of old threads on this topic and copy and pasted a ton of good info on it into a new thread here if you’re interested: All encompassing calling black bears thread (like the old calling tactics and sounds but for bears)

 

[Slagiatt]

I wasn't aware you could call bears. What kind of call do you use?

I use the same stuff i use for coyotes or cougar. Fawn, bunny. Called bears in with calm fawn bleats, fawn distress, bunny squealing, whatever. I know guys that have had bears charge in on them when they were making cow calls while elk hunting.
Anyway most guys will say call for an hour. Ive never had anything come in much past 30 minutes. Bears are unpredictable in how they respond to calls. Some will come in real sneaky, some come strolling in pretty casually, occasionally they come hard charging. You could have one coming in hot in just a minute of calling, or sneaking in after a half hour or so. And despite being so olfactory oriented they generally dont seem to worry about circling downwind like a coyote, at least in my experience.
I like calling in timber, bears might seem crepuscular when youre glassing cuts, but theyre active all day in the timber where theres cover and shade. Mainly talking about late summer / early fall warm weather berry season. The areas i call shots are going to be close range. Generally 50 yards or less. So i like to use an lpvo. Leave it on 1x while calling.

 

[Slagiatt]

Like i said, seems to me that bears dont worry much about getting down wind for some reason, so i cons

ider moderate to heavy cover my friend. Makes them feel more secure i think, and theyre not all gonna wind you from out of sight. So i avoid calling cuts or wide open stuff. This is what i consider prime bear calling habitat. Yrmv.

 

[Newpond0]

Like i said, seems to me that bears dont worry much about getting down wind for some reason, so i consView attachment 14617View attachment 14618View attachment 14619View attachment 14620View attachment 14621View attachment 14622View attachment 14623ider moderate to heavy cover my friend. Makes them feel more secure i think, and theyre not all gonna wind you from out of sight. So i avoid calling cuts or wide open stuff. This is what i consider prime bear calling habitat. Yrmv.

Great pics and info! Those are some tight little openings . My heart was pumping so hard seeing that bear from a few hundred years away, I can’t imagine being in a small opening like yours with one showing up. Wow! I’d love to hear some of your stories

Edit: are you on a stool or sitting against a tree in there on the edge or how do you setup?

 

[Slagiatt]

Hah, wish i could carry around a stool. Im hiking around the mountains in 90-100 degree heat, hoping to have to give a bear a backpack ride, so i carry as little gear as possible. No comfy seat, no binos, no rangefinder. Pretty much 2 big nalgene bottles, an msr guardian water filter, some game bags, knife, headlamp. I find good places to call and generally theres a root or a rock or something sharp digging into an ass cheek while i call. And hornets and flys crawling around on me. Most of the spots i call, im not gonna get a shot past 50 yards or so. I really think thats the ticket. Being in the timber. If i was a fat ass bear wearing a fur coat i wouldnt want to be messing around in a clear cut under the hot august sun. So i go in the timber, where berries and water and shade are abundant. I sneak around still hunting, paying attention to my ears, and look for good places to sit and call. Half the time i end up killing a bear while sneaking around looking for a good spot to call. Probably 50/50 still hunting / calling. Ive heard a lot of guys say you cant hunt bears that way, you gotta glass and glass, whatever. Buncha nonsense. Tiptoeing through the timber works great for me. I dont even bring binos or a rangefinder bear hunting in washington.

 

[Newpond0]

Hah, wish i could carry around a stool. Im hiking around the mountains in 90-100 degree heat, hoping to have to give a bear a backpack ride, so i carry as little gear as possible. No comfy seat, no binos, no rangefinder. Pretty much 2 big nalgene bottles, an msr guardian water filter, some game bags, knife, headlamp. I find good places to call and generally theres a root or a rock or something sharp digging into an ass cheek while i call. And hornets and flys crawling around on me. Most of the spots i call, im not gonna get a shot past 50 yards or so. I really think thats the ticket. Being in the timber. If i was a fat ass bear wearing a fur coat i wouldnt want to be messing around in a clear cut under the hot august sun. So i go in the timber, where berries and water and shade are abundant. I sneak around still hunting, paying attention to my ears, and look for good places to sit and call. Half the time i end up killing a bear while sneaking around looking for a good spot to call. Probably 50/50 still hunting / calling. Ive heard a lot of guys say you cant hunt bears that way, you gotta glass and glass, whatever. Buncha nonsense. Tiptoeing through the timber works great for me. I dont even bring binos or a rangefinder bear hunting in washington.

Thank you

 

[Polock]

I use the same stuff i use for coyotes or cougar. Fawn, bunny. Called bears in with calm fawn bleats, fawn distress, bunny squealing, whatever. I know guys that have had bears charge in on them when they were making cow calls while elk hunting.
Anyway most guys will say call for an hour. Ive never had anything come in much past 30 minutes. Bears are unpredictable in how they respond to calls. Some will come in real sneaky, some come strolling in pretty casually, occasionally they come hard charging. You could have one coming in hot in just a minute of calling, or sneaking in after a half hour or so. And despite being so olfactory oriented they generally dont seem to worry about circling downwind like a coyote, at least in my experience.
I like calling in timber, bears might seem crepuscular when youre glassing cuts, but theyre active all day in the timber where theres cover and shade. Mainly talking about late summer / early fall warm weather berry season. The areas i call shots are going to be close range. Generally 50 yards or less. So i like to use an lpvo. Leave it on 1x while calling.

That brings up something that happened to me trying calling. Now and them I give it a shot but never have called in much. But one time I was using my call with the fawn in distress and called in a bunch of deer! Surprised me. Whole bunch of does and fawns!

 

[WMFerguson]

I have a buddy who swears his grandad used to call in deer with bagpipes.

 

[Slagiatt]

That brings up something that happened to me trying calling. Now and them I give it a shot but never have called in much. But one time I was using my call with the fawn in distress and called in a bunch of deer! Surprised me. Whole bunch of does and fawns!

Ive called in does quite a few times. One time i was doing kinda calm fawn bleats, like a fawn makes calling for mom, not getting killed. Within seconds a doe came charging in at me, looking worried. She stopped maybe 20 yards away at most. I waved at her so she could see i wasnt really a fawn. Well that really got her worked up and she started pitching a fit blowing at me. So i decided to play off that and changed my calling to fawn distress, trying to sound like a fawn being chewed up. The doe continued pitching a fit for a few minutes then took off, and i just kept going. Then a big fat bear came creeping in on me and i dropped him at about 15 yards. That doe added some realism to my calling. Helped me bring in that big boar im sure.

Another time i started doing fawn bleats over in idaho, and almost right away there was a big commotion behind me and a whole big mess of mule deer does came crashing down the hill straight for me and stopped all around me, looking all over for the source of the noise, and they spooked a lone cow elk out of its bed that i didnt realize was right near me. Pretty crazy getting that many deer charging at me, getting surrounded.