Deer can be found almost anywhere. They’ve adapted well to the presence of human beings and have found a wealth of food from human agriculture and logging. Elk, to a lesser extent, can also often be found grazing grassy pasture on agricultural lands with some frequency. They’ve adjusted to human presence in ways big and small.

Not so with black bears. This may because bears are smarter than ungulates and therefore more intrinsically weary, but it may also be hundreds of years of humans not tolerating a bear in proximity of their homes. Regardless, black bears in Oregon can be hard to find.

In the Oregon Cascades, they tend to inhabit the places humans do not want to go: swampy meadows, banal forests, thick and brushy hillsides covered in berries. It seems that the more distant from hiking trails and interesting features you can get, the more likely you are to find bears. They keep frustrating hours, often coming out into the most open of areas right as the sun is setting. Even then, who’s watching the shrubby patch next to a swamp in the middle of miles of monotonous forest?

Bears are in the woods, but you may never see them.