What do black bears eat? You name it, and a black bear will probably eat it. Generally speaking, black bears eat vegetation, berries, nuts, insects, fish, and meat. Bears are omnivores whose diet varies based on the region where they live, but even more on the changing seasons.\u00a0They\u2019re also opportunistic, which means they won\u2019t turn down an easy meal. That\u2019s why black bears are often caught dumpster diving<\/a> and raiding backyard bird feeders.<\/p>\n Still, black bears have plenty of preferred foods, and knowing what a bear likes to eat during a specific time of year is key for scouting, targeting them over natural food sources, or running bear baits. While this article does not contain an exhaustive list of every single leaf, grass, berry, and bug a black bear will eat, it will provide enough concrete examples that are relevant to the bears in your area. If you want more information about the plants and insects native to your state, your best bet is to find your state wildlife agency\u2019s information on black bears.<\/p>\n Click on one of these topics below to jump around to detailed lists of what black bears eat, or just read straight through the story.<\/p>\n What Black Bears Eat Depends on the Season<\/a> To understand what a black bear is eating, you need to first consider the time of year.<\/p>\n If it\u2019s the dead of winter, the answer to the question \u201cWhat do black bears eat?\u201d is probably nothing at all. Although most people believe bear hibernation<\/a> is a months-long stretch where bears fall asleep in autumn and don\u2019t stir until spring, that\u2019s a misnomer. Bears are not true hibernators. Instead, they seek dens in the winter when food becomes scarce. In fact, as long as a bear isn\u2019t experiencing an energy deficit\u2014when foraging requires more energy than the forage itself provides\u2014bears don\u2019t need to den. (Typically those bears are either boars or sows with yearling cubs; pregnant sows give birth in the den overwinter.)<\/p>\n As a general rule, black bears do not eat during a den cycle. Cubs will nurse and drink milk (and sows will actually eat the droppings of their newborn cubs), but that\u2019s about it. Bears conserve their energy by sleeping often, moving little, and subsisting on the fat stores they built up last fall. As soon as a bear leaves the den in the spring, though, food becomes its primary focus.<\/p>\n \u201cBears will be emerging from dens anywhere from mid February to mid- or late-April depending on their [cub] status and sex, and they immediately begin to recover the weight they lost during the den cycle,\u201d says Myron Means, the large carnivore program coordinator for the Arkansas Fish and Game Commission. \u201cThey\u2019re eating a lot of grasses and doing a lot of rock-rolling [to find] insects. That\u2019s the bulk of their diet until the berry crop gets ripe.\u201d<\/p>\n Black bears, says Means, have a tendency to find one food source and eat it until it\u2019s exhausted.<\/p>\n \u201cBears are kind of unique,\u201d says Means. \u201cThere are different plants that fruit at different times in the summer, and bears just transition from one to the next and the next, [eating] almost exclusively on that food source. Blackberries are usually [ripe] first, then bears transition to wild cherries, then sassafras and pokeberries later on in the summer, then elderberries.\u201d<\/p>\n After the mating season (usually May through July) and as fall approaches, black bears enter what\u2019s called hyperphagia, says Means, where bears just gorge themselves on whatever they can eat to build their fat stores ahead of the next den cycle. So just how much do black bears eat?<\/p>\n \u201cWhen they\u2019re going through this hyperphagic phase, they may eat 20,000 calories a day,\u201d says Means, \u201cwhich is a lot of food when you\u2019re talking about mostly soft mast like berries.\u201d<\/p>\n Here\u2019s another way to think about that. Black bears can eat up to 45 pounds of food a day when forage is abundant, putting on five pounds of weight in preparation for winter, according to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Although black bears are omnivores, plants make up the bulk of their natural diet. Based on the research reports he\u2019s studied, Means says a black bear\u2019s diet is usually 80 to 90 percent herbaceous material\u2014that is grasses, leaves, berries, nuts, and agricultural crops. One study of Texas black bears<\/a>, for example, found that bears diets were 77 percent plant-based in the spring, and 86 percent plant-based in the summer.<\/p>\n In the early spring, black bears target tender green shoots and weeds like dandelions before switching to ripe berries throughout the summer, then gorging themselves on hard mast like nuts in the fall. Specific examples of natural plant forage include:<\/p>\n One reason black bears have to eat so much plant matter to gain weight is because they have a short gut, says Means. Their gut \u201cwas really engineered to be a carnivore\u2019s gut, but they evolved to eat a more herbaceous diet.\u201d<\/p>\n Black bears have short guts that can\u2019t fully absorb all the nutrients from plant matter\u2014whether it be berries or grasses. This is one reason it\u2019s usually so easy to identify bear scat<\/a>: It\u2019s usually full of whole berries and seeds. Examining bear scat is also a great way to determine what foods a bear has been targeting.<\/p>\n Black bears do target crops like corn and winter wheat, says Means, although corn generally isn\u2019t great for black bears because their digestive systems can\u2019t process it very well.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve seen where bears will walk through food plots just stripping the wheat heads and eating nothing but those,\u201d says Means. \u201cThen they\u2019ll leave scat around these food plots and the scat is nothing but a log of wheat heads.\u201d<\/p>\n Black bears prefer clover among many other crops, and it\u2019s a good choice if you\u2019re interested in planting food plots for a variety of wildlife, since deer and turkeys also use clover plots.<\/p>\n Of the 10 to 20 percent of a black bear\u2019s diet that does not come from plant matter, says Means, most of that animal protein comes from insects. Here are some common insects that black bears are known to eat:<\/p>\n One common misconception about bears is that they love honey, but that\u2019s not what they\u2019re really after when they raid a hive.<\/p>\n \u200b\u200b\u201cBears are more interested in the larvae,\u201d says Means. \u201cThe honey is a great reward, but the larva has all the protein. That\u2019s why most bears will raid beehives when the hives are going good and strong, and they\u2019ve got full frames of larvae in June and July.\u201d<\/p>\n As for the true amount of meat that makes up a bear\u2019s diet, Means estimates that black bears\u2014in Arkansas, at least\u2014rely very little on mammal protein.<\/p>\n \u201cThe true meat in a bear\u2019s annual diet accounts for maybe one percent,\u201d says Means. \u201cIt\u2019s just not much at all.\u201d<\/p>\n When a black bear does eat an animal, it\u2019s usually the result of opportunity rather than because that bear specifically hunted a particular critter.<\/p>\n \u201cBears will eat carrion. I\u2019ve seen sows actually pull roadkill deer off the road and eat off it for a couple days,\u201d says Means of the back bears he\u2019s observed in Arkansas. \u201cOf course, they\u2019d pounce on a deer fawn if they had an opportunity. But bears don\u2019t really actively hunt fawns. They\u2019re so consumed with just getting whatever food they can. It\u2019s a lot of effort for a little reward for a fawn and they\u2019d rather just belly up into a blackberry patch when the berries are ripe rather than try to hunt a fawn down.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, black bear predation rates of mammals like deer fawns and elk calves differ regionally. In one Pennsylvania study<\/a> of 165 GPS-collared whitetail fawns, researchers found that black bears were responsible for killing 23 fawns, or 14 percent\u2014more than any other predator in the study. (Coyotes killed 14 fawns, bobcats killed seven, and a handful of other predators could not be identified.)\u00a0<\/p>\n In one study of moose predation<\/a> in Southeast Alaska, researchers found that black bears averaged one moose calf kill every 40 days, and no black bears were documented killing adult moose. Predation rates, researchers noted, were \u201chighly variable among individual bears.\u201d Another study of elk calf survival<\/a> in New Mexico determined that \u201cthe primary cause for summer [elk] calf mortality across all years was black bear predation.\u201d Higher hunter harvest of black bears was linked to better elk calf survival rates, with researchers noting that for \u201cevery additional bear harvested in spring, radio-collar tagged elk calves were 2.4 percent more likely to survive the summer.\u201d<\/p>\n While these studies do indicate that black bears are often the top predator of newborn ungulates, they do not tell us what percent of a bear\u2019s diet consists of fawns or calves. Still, it\u2019s crystal clear that black bears do indeed eat meat.<\/p>\n If you ask 10 black bear hunters what their favorite bait for black bears is, you\u2019ll probably get 10 different answers. I once hunted with an outfitter in Saskatchewan who froze whole beaver carcasses, then sawed them in half and tossed the meat in bait barrels with oats, cooking oil, and the occasional hog quarter. The bears up there liked that just fine.<\/p>\n Read Next: <\/strong>The Best Bear Cartridges<\/a><\/p>\n But if you don\u2019t have access to beaver carcasses or a crew of guides to freshen such heavy, messy bait, or if baiting with meat is illegal in your area, there are easier options. Because black bears eat just about anything, Means chooses black bear bait with affordability and convenience in mind.<\/p>\n \u201cI buy the cheapest bait I can get in large quantities, so I buy dog food in bulk,\u201d says Means, who runs six barrels for six hunters (including himself) on his hunting lease. \u201cI\u2019ll feed over a ton of dog food in a season. You want something that has a pretty good protein content, but bears also need plenty of carbs.\u201d<\/p>\n Means puts used cooking oil on the dog food to increase the bait\u2019s fat content and also to help create a scent trail from his bait. If one bear gets cooking oil on its paws and pads away into the woods, Means says it\u2019s easier for another bear to cut its scent and find the bait barrels.<\/p>\n \u201cThe best bear bait is anything you can have out there\u2014dog food or pastries or whatever\u2014that a bear can get to before the mast crop hits,\u201d says Means. \u201cBecause once the mast crop hits, there\u2019s nothing you can put in a bait barrel that a bear will go to before a bear goes to acorns. It\u2019s just that simple. Acorns are a bear\u2019s prime rib, and that\u2019s what they have evolved feeding on.\u201d<\/p>\n Means says he\u2019s never had much luck with white bread, which he\u2019s mixed in with his bait and noticed black bears tend to pick around. He also advises against using corn.<\/p>\n Read Next: <\/strong>Where to Shoot a Bear<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI think corn is a horrible bear bait. Corn doesn\u2019t really have that much nutritional value to a bear. They can\u2019t really assimilate corn like a deer can. A deer has four stomachs and can glean every little bit of nutrient out of corn whereas a bear\u2019s gut is short and they need something they can process easier and quicker.\u201d<\/p>\n Because black bears are opportunistic feeders, homeowners often receive unwanted visits from bears who are looking for an easy meal. Almost always, says Means, these bears are sub-adult males who have been pushed out of the best natural forage spots (like all the choice berry patches) by dominant bears and are just \u201cwalking stomachs.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOut of 75 to 150 average \u2018nuisance bear\u2019 complaints per year, I\u2019d say 98 percent of them are food-driven complaints,\u201d says Means. \u201cRarely do we actually have a [true] nuisance bear situation where it\u2019s getting into beehives or it tore into someone\u2019s cabin to get soda cans. It\u2019s almost always sub-adult bears and a food-related attractant \u2026 The easiest solution? You remove the food, you remove the bear. It\u2019s just that simple.\u201d<\/p>\n A brown bear eats the same foods as a black bear (especially when it comes to vegetation and berries),\u00a0but given that brown bears live in coastal areas, their diet is much more dependent on fish. The brown bears in Katmai National Park<\/a>, for instance, can eat up to 40 salmon in a day while preparing for winter. The bears eat the most fatty, calorie-dense parts of the fish\u2014like the brain, skin, and roe\u2014and leave the leaner fillets behind. Brown bears are also more likely to prey on newborn ungulates (like fawns and moose calves) than black bears, and are also more likely to attempt killing adult ungulates.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nTable of Contents<\/h2>\n
\n
Black Bears Eat Mostly Plants\u2026<\/a>
Grasses, Leaves, and Crops<\/a>
Soft Mast<\/a>
Hard Mast<\/a>
Crops and Food Plots<\/a>
\u2026But They Do Eat Bugs, Fish, and Meat<\/a>
Insect Food Sources<\/a>
Other Animal Food Sources<\/a>
The Best Black Bear Bait<\/a>
Common Black Bear Baits<\/a>
Bear Attractants in Populated Human Areas<\/a>
FAQs<\/a><\/p>\n<\/ol>\nWhat Black Bears Eat Depends on the Season<\/h2>\n
![\"Black](\"https:\/\/www.outdoorlife.com\/uploads\/2023\/08\/16\/bear_eating_berries.jpg\")
![\"Black](\"https:\/\/www.outdoorlife.com\/uploads\/2023\/08\/16\/bears_eat_blackberries.jpg\")
Black Bears Mostly Eat Plants\u2026<\/h2>\n
![\"Devil's](\"https:\/\/www.outdoorlife.com\/uploads\/2023\/08\/16\/devils_walking_stick.jpg\")
Grasses, Leaves, and Other Plants<\/h3>\n
\n
Soft Mast Food Sources<\/h3>\n
\n
Hard Mast Food Sources<\/h3>\n
\n
![\"Bear](\"https:\/\/www.outdoorlife.com\/uploads\/2023\/08\/16\/cranberries_bear_scat.jpg\")
A Note on Crops and Food Plots for Bears<\/h3>\n
\u2026Black Bears Do Eat Bugs, Fish, and Meat<\/h2>\n
Insect Food Sources<\/h3>\n
\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.outdoorlife.com\/uploads\/2023\/08\/16\/bear_eating_deer_guts.jpg\")
![\"Black](\"https:\/\/www.outdoorlife.com\/uploads\/2023\/08\/16\/bears_eat_fawns.jpg\")
Other Animal Food Sources<\/h3>\n
\n
The Best Black Bear Bait<\/h2>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.outdoorlife.com\/uploads\/2023\/08\/16\/black_bear_bait-2.jpg\")
Common black bear baits<\/h3>\n
\n
Bear Attractants in Populated Human Areas<\/h2>\n
![\"Two](\"https:\/\/www.outdoorlife.com\/uploads\/2023\/08\/16\/bears_bird_feeder.jpg\")
Common Black Bear Attractants<\/h3>\n
\n
FAQs<\/h2>\n
What does a brown bear eat?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
What is a bears\u2019 favorite food?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.outdoorlife.com\/uploads\/2023\/08\/16\/black_bear_eating_Serviceberries.jpg\")