The biggest tip I could give you is to be out in the woods. I prefer early mornings, but some prefer just before dark. I have also seen and killed alot of bears in the middle of the day. Remember that they have to eat for winter and sometimes they feed for 20 hours of any day. They can also be on the move. Last year my brother shot at and missed one, then he killed one, bought another tag and saw two more bears in two weeks. All while bow hunting bear/deer/elk, because he was in the woods. I have had some great luck hunting bears but I like to say that "ya can't kill em from the couch".

My brothers 2006 archery bear.



Look at the harvest reports for gmu's near where you want to hunt. I go back about 10 years and look for trends, but also the amount of hunters in the unit. A unit with 8-10% success rate with a low number of hunters gets me more excited than a 15% success rate and high hunter numbers.