Fall bear hunting starts in Minnesota on Sept 1, but scouting the bear signs should begin months ahead.  Examining the woods in spring when the bears come out of the den gives you a great picture of what is moving around.  Scouting then is easy since the foliage is down and you can see bear sign more clearly especially chewed bark and signs of digging for tubers.  This can give you a really good clue where the winter den was and that the Bear is still around your area.  Summer heat drives bears to stick close to water to cool down. Early fall starts the gorging on any food to bulk up for winter den.

Good scratching marks and rubbing Carlos Avery Wildlife management area, MN. Kalina photo.	Bark stripped and bite marks. St. Louis County.  Kalina photo
Repeated climbing scratches. St. Louis County, MN. Kalina Photo.	Fresh out of the spring den, a bear will gorge on bark. He really tore up this tree. St. Louis County.  MN.  Kalina Photo.
Scratches from repeatedly climbing and sliding down tree. St. Louis  County. MN Kalina photo.	Back print (left) and front paw (right).  Paw prints can usually only been seen in mud.  If only grasses are around, then prints are undetectable. Unknown photographer.
Scratch marks also may mark nearby berry patches.  Nearly every substantial berry patch has scratches on a nearby tree. (Where a bear has his circuit). Perhaps the scent from this mark, reminds him as he’s walking or it warns other bears that these berries belong to him.  St. Louis County, MN. Kalina photo.	A good hunting dog can lead you down the typical bear paths. St. Louis County, MN. Usually a bear path is wide, but in long marsh grasses, the wind and water can make the grasses pop up and hide a path.  In this case, the dog led us through this marsh to an island where all the trees were scratched by bear, a good bear sign. Kalina Photo.

Berry bushes that are being visited by bears typically will have all the top berries gone and a few will be left on the bottom.   There is sometimes a flat area where the bear sat down.