when scouting anything NOW< and NOT hunting them, you have to ask yourself where will they be, come hunting time,
as finding them now might be useless information tio have?
bears are traveling animals and have very large home ranges, many of to 30 miles or even more
bears live for food, its food that draws them its food that keeps them in an area, security and cover/water will come after food IMO
a bear can hit food at night to avoid being seen in day time if need be!
I have NO clue where your located at or where you plan to hunt bears or look for them at
SO this is a BIG difference, location , means wha ta STATE or providence your in,a s the places to look for bears will be different based on your area's features and food sources!
in any place that has crops, this time of yr, corn fields will be where I would start looking, all the more so along places that have deeper sized sections of swamp and or thicker forested areas close by, bears love corn and corn fields, they can stay there for weeks and eat till there full, crap and repeat all over again, its also why most farmers dislike bears!, they don't just eat the corn they will roll about in it ruining more than what they will consume!
if NO corn fields near by(or other crops that bears will eat)
I say soon Acorn dropping will become a prime food source, like deer bears will want the sweeter one's first!
but since acorns don't have the tonnage of food in one spot,, like a corn field will, they can be here today else where tomorrow!
come hunting season in many places corn fields are long gone and harvested, and many acorns can be GONE
so again, finding a bear NOW< and then come hunting time, might be two places miles and miles apart!
IMO opinion, if your NOT hunting a PRIME food source, that is HOLDING Bears, and your NOT legally hunting over bait, your odds of running into a bear in hunting season ,
sadly has a LOT to do with LUCK! more than many other things!
Next if your legally hunting where driving bears is allowed, this is your second highest way to get one in a NON bait, use of dog hunting state/providence!
larger organized drive, this is a super productive way to hunt bears where baiting is NOT allowed(or dog for this matter)
lastly and sadly!
Cheaters, kill a LOT of bears IMO, not throwing stones, but after a LOT of yrs talking to hunters having come in my gun shop and at butcher shops I worked, I heard a TON of things to enforce this belief in me!
this is MY Opinion,
I have a TON of experience with bears too, to be honest!