Last year, acorns, an important food source for bears and other wildlife, were virtually nonexistent. Manzanita berries, another food staple in this part of the country, were also very scarce. Spotty rainfall affected the production of prickly pear fruit, as well. But early season scouting can help in locating secret pockets of abundance. We had done our homework and it was in one of these spots that we were concentrating our early hunting efforts.
Bears venture out into the rolling foothills early and late each day in search of food.
From a high vista, glassing often proves a productive method for locating feeding bears. On the day before we spotted this bear, we had twice located another bear but each time a pair of energetic young cubs trailed along behind the mature sow. While this put the female off limits for us, it did provide some interesting entertainment as we observed mamma attending to the serious business of feeding while the little guys frolicked in this wild and beautiful setting. Arizona has a healthy population of black bears, estimated by the Arizona Game and Fish Department to be at 2000-3000 animals on public lands and an equal number on tribal lands. Even though the area s ruggedness is a benefit to its bears, large tracts of thee state are not good bear habitat.