Spot and stalk takes a LOT of pre scouting or just dumb luck. Normally the second it seems. Find the food sources and you normally find the bear. A good way is set up high on hills above and around food sources and glass the area for movement. WE go into trees. Also watch for sign in your travels as bear will make routes. In my travels through the forest here, I tend to locate them near water too. It is not all that uncommon to come across them. Look for mast crops... acorns, berries, that kind of thing. If there is some agriculture fields out there, keep them in mind. Here in Wisconsin we bait them. Or run them with hounds.

And when you set up camp in the woods, be careful not to burn bacon in a fry pan over the campfire (grease too). If you do that, you get no breakfast, and then you have to watch up wind for creatures that might have smelt it...