There are always food sources,some are just more defined and isolated than others.There are also water sources to consider.I've killed a dozen or so,mostly with iron sighted revolvers,a couple with rifles,in the timber here,by sitting on travelways,food sources,water sources and still hunting.
If you hunt and kill deer in the woods,you can do the same with bears in the same woods.Areas like the Canadian bush are difficult to get out and hunt without bait and if you have armies of orange coats bumbling around you in the Eastern woods,that can make it hard to implement a plan but sitting on saddles,trails leading in to thick cover and other escape routes can pay off.
If you can't find defined bear trails to sit on,still hunting food sources like beech or white oak ridges can pay off.You can tell if bears are feeding there and which trees they prefer.
The only water sources I'm interested are isolated springs or water holes,not streams.
This one was following a trail,just inside the cover,that leads from dry country to a stream.I found his track,heading South and was pretty sure he would be back for water that evening.I wasn't quite right.It took four days but he did come back.