Bear hunting/behavior advice

[gfontela]

I was on a rifle elk hunt this October in SW New Mexico and saw several different bears during my hunt along with a lot of bear sign. I saw the same 2 large bears on 3 different days (separately twice each and together once) and also found bear scat all over the general area. I didn't have a bear tag in my pocket but I looked it up after and bears are over the counter in the area. I'm thinking about going back to the same area next fall in late September/early October to try and kill a bear, but have never actually hunted bears before and was hoping for some insight on bear behavior and patterns.

Is it likely that those same bears will still be in the same general area a year later? They were both really big bears and I have a feeling that there were more in the area as well given the amount of scat I was seeing everywhere. I know that the bears won't get shot between now and then because the season closed while I was there and the area does not have a spring bear season.

 

[RELH]

If food is plentiful in that area for bears, they should still be there next year. Unless human traffic moves them out and that should not be a problem if there is no hunting seasons there until next fall when the bear season opens up.
Be careful on the skinning out process and you should end up with a nice bear rug.
RELH

 

[gfontela]

There are two archery elk seasons before the rifle bear season opens, but I still think it might be worth a shot anyways. Water was very limited this year in the area with most water holes being completely dry. These bears were close to a water hole that was actually full of water, so I'm thinking that could have something to do with it. Assuming next year is dry again I think there is a good chance this water hole will again still have water, so that might be something for me to consider.

Thanks for your input.

 

[Soj51hopeful]

ive Seen bears reoccurring in areas over the years. Same bears I don’t know but just like deer if an area produces resources it will hold animals of all kinds. Bears will follow the best food source available wether it’s berries or acorns or whatever. This year in my stomping grounds the acorns are heavy.