Has Spring Bear ruined bear season?

This might be a bit of a rant but over the past 3 years where there has been a full spring bear season this has been my experience.

We used to have two spots within 550km of us where we would reliably take bears every single season for the past 15+ years, often on opening day and usually tagging out. They weren't big bears but that's what you get when you live 500km+ from the nearest bear site and only a week to bait and hunt and do everything yourself without the help of an outfitter or local.

The very first year that spring bear season opened we haven't seen a single bear for the past 2 years, that site has been a dead zone. Heck even back in 2016 when just the pilot seasons were open we noticed bears were much warrier and sparse, but at least we'd get some.

In the past couple years we baited in at least 14 different WMUs and have put more time into bear hunting than we have in the last 10 years prior to that, even going up to the Timmins/Cochrane area and the Temagami area for 2 weeks each. We had hits in only 3/14 of those several WMUs. However always the same problem, they hit the bait once and leave for a week or two at a time or they never come back, even the small 2-3 year old bears. We never had this issue before the spring season, they would always stick around the bait for at least a few days at a time.

We are headed up tomorrow to check our first spring baits that were placed on sites that were hit in the fall. If nothing turns up then it's probably the end of bear season for us. Which really is a shame, bear was always my favourite wild game meat and it's how I got introduced to hunting when I took my first bear at 15. I guess all is left is fond memories at this point.

In my area where I bait I think it is almost to easy which is just 20 minutes outside Huntsville, Last spring had at least 14 different bears on our one bait through out the season that were noticeably different,
There are at least 4 hunters with in 5 kms of my bait that I know of and they all have bears also,
This year wasnt going to bait but a friend was coming up so baited Sunday and was hit that day, he spent 6 hours in the stand in the rain, Then one nice sunny afternoon was there a hour and missed one.

We hunt south of Huntsville and don't get nearly that amount of traffic in the spring, but we do have at least 2 different bears steady on the bait (both are pretty young). This is the second season baiting these spots we've established and the activity has steadily increased as time goes on.

It seems like every bear Hunter I talk to has different levels of success and different expectations.

I don't believe so, but things change for lots of reasons.
15 years of taking bears from the same area can certainly do more damage than adding a spring season. I guess the real data that the MNR provides will show you how many bears are being harvested and if things have changed all over or just for you guys.

More hunting options is never a bad thing if the resource can support it. While it may affect a few individuals in a negative way, it affects many others in a positive way.
I've taken 3 fall bears in the last 4 years, so I don't think the spring hunt has affected my area.

I dont know what the cause would be.

Very dry spring, Maybe bears aren't getting the vegetation they need early to get them going so they can feed on rich foods like bait.

We had some years where baits did not get hit until first or second week of June. Entire month of May they didn't touch it.

Next thought is how many others are baiting the same area?

One good bait could keep every bear for 20 sqkm on it and they might not need to travel far to another bait (I.e your bait)

I dont think there is a shortage of bears anywhere in Ontario.

I wouldn't say "ruined". But yes, the intention of the spring bear re-introduction was to help reduce bear populations, and looking at the harvest numbers pre/post 2014, i'd say it has. Slightly

https://data.ontario.ca/dataset/blac...1-2345cf7c6186

Every moose hunter will thank you in the area if you put a dent in the bear population.

The spring bear hunt is the only reason why I hunt bears
by the time bear season rolls around in the fall I just don't want to make the time to hunt them

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Matt86

Every moose hunter will thank you in the area if you put a dent in the bear population.

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Point me to where you have problems with bears and I'll gladly do pest control lol.

In our area (WMU73),there seems to be a few more Bears showing up each season. I'm no big Bear hunter by any stretch,but,I've been carrying a license and tag with me for a few seasons,now,just in case I run into one. Years ago,there weren't hardly any anywhere down here,but,anymore,it's getting easier to run into one or two.