Anyone getting bears yet?

HODL

FNG
Joined
Apr 9, 2020
Messages
36
Am I the only one checking here daily for bear success pics? Oregon has been open for 9 days now and I know some good bears have hit the dirt so far.
 
Joined
Aug 23, 2014
Messages
5,373
Location
oregon coast
Am I the only one checking here daily for bear success pics? Oregon has been open for 9 days now and I know some good bears have hit the dirt so far.
my wife and i made it out our first time yesterday... mainly just checking out the status of the feed so far, i'm going to focus on turkey mostly this month, then next month will be all bear (and some spring chinook mixed in of course)

a lot of our local good spring bear habitat is 3k+ ft of elevation on the far south coast, and it's still barren. saw some good feed yesterday, but it was too easy of access to focus on. we are going back out this evening.

low elevation yesterday afternoon was 65*, and up in the higher elevation, only about 5 miles away was 47* degrees.... if it doesn't green up by early month, we will shift a little north where there is more low elevation, here, it hops up in elevation quick
 
Joined
Aug 23, 2014
Messages
5,373
Location
oregon coast
we glassed up 4 tonight.... not ideal scenario, we were at 3200' elevation when i picked them up, very little green, and 40 degrees up there with some showers starting... we were coming back down, i got to another vantage, and glassed up this cliffy face that had more green... i told my wife to come over because i wanted to show her that little pocket and tell her that's the type of pockets we're looking for with the current situation, then i pick out a bear! i could believe it.... long story short, we got close, but it was getting late, and there was an ugly canyon between us, and those bear aren't going anywhere... one was a good bear, there may have been 5, but for sure 4. i think it was a sow, 2 yearlings and a boar, the sow chased the boar about 200 yds at one point

new country to me, but figuring out the lay of the land pretty quick
 

sneaky

"DADDY"
Joined
Feb 1, 2014
Messages
10,112
Location
ID
Mid 30s and snowing here all week. Haven't cut any tracks yet. Still early though

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
 

ndayton

WKR
Joined
Oct 31, 2017
Messages
346
Location
Oregon
Well I had an awkward encounter. I saw 6 bears on Saturday sending pictures and video to my wife. As I am working a ridge I spot two bears, get the camera out and using my binos to film I realize these bears are going at it like newly weds.
Feeling like a weirdo I stopped recording sized up the boar and gave him a pass as I didn't feel like ruining the party and there are bigger bears to be found.
 
Joined
Jan 15, 2022
Messages
1,767
Am I the only one checking here daily for bear success .....


Just got word this evening that Phase III of the ongoing Nelchina bear study (GMU 13) begins next week. Will try to get radio collars and tattoos on more animals this time around.
 
Joined
Aug 23, 2014
Messages
5,373
Location
oregon coast
Well I had an awkward encounter. I saw 6 bears on Saturday sending pictures and video to my wife. As I am working a ridge I spot two bears, get the camera out and using my binos to film I realize these bears are going at it like newly weds.
Feeling like a weirdo I stopped recording sized up the boar and gave him a pass as I didn't feel like ruining the party and there are bigger bears to be found.
That’s pretty wild! Not what one would expect in April… cabin fever followed by 2 years of social distancing, certainly can’t blame the bear😉

Don’t blame you for passing either, I would be a little conflicted as well

Goes back to one thing that draws every hunter to hunting, you NEVER know what a hunt has in store, enough of those scenarios that keeps that an active desire in us to see what might happen each hunt… pretty cool and sounds like a pretty dang good day of hunting bear even if it was all pg-13, you could have turned it into a snuff film
 

Brando

FNG
Joined
Oct 2, 2018
Messages
61
Location
SW Washington
Nothing but turkeys and snow this week in Eastern Oregon.
Got up to our area Sunday and decided to head home yesterday to ensure we could get our trailer out before the next big snow storm came through. Didn’t cut one bear track. Hope to be-able to go back out Mid May.
 

Moose83

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Aug 30, 2020
Messages
290
Saw a couple up here in the Bulkley valley today. Still lots of snow though, it'll be a while before it gets really good.
 

OsoHunter

FNG
Joined
Apr 17, 2022
Messages
2
Location
Missoula, MT
Nothing here in Montana yet, but some bears are out, as some reports have been made (about 3 weeks ago), but not recently as there has been a cold snap and snow down to the valley floors. we went out out looking at hillsides for green up a couple weeks ago when it felt like spring, but our deeper spots are now inundated with snow so, figure bears in there have possibly re-denned for a bit. Stay ready!! Photos from a couple weeks ago, and yesterday. Stay Ready bruin hunters!!!IMG_1288.jpg20220416_131628.jpg
 

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Frost

FNG
Joined
Aug 8, 2019
Messages
32
my wife and i made it out our first time yesterday... mainly just checking out the status of the feed so far, i'm going to focus on turkey mostly this month, then next month will be all bear (and some spring chinook mixed in of course)

a lot of our local good spring bear habitat is 3k+ ft of elevation on the far south coast, and it's still barren. saw some good feed yesterday, but it was too easy of access to focus on. we are going back out this evening.

low elevation yesterday afternoon was 65*, and up in the higher elevation, only about 5 miles away was 47* degrees.... if it doesn't green up by early month, we will shift a little north where there is more low elevation, here, it hops up in elevation quick
Did the far south Oregon coast get hammered with snow last week? 2k feet range in the cascades got 1.5-2 ft last week
 
Joined
Aug 23, 2014
Messages
5,373
Location
oregon coast
Did the far south Oregon coast get hammered with snow last week? 2k feet range in the cascades got 1.5-2 ft last week
Yeah, I don’t know exactly how much, but it all got covered in snow… guessing it’s still all snow… I came over to NE Oregon to chase turkey until we get some better weather… it’s windy up here, but killed a jake very first setup at noon when I got over here and hiked in… good to have options! Plan to head back to my home corner of the state late week when the weather improves a bit
 

thinhorn_AK

"DADDY"
Joined
Jul 2, 2016
Messages
11,208
Location
Alaska
In the next few weeks hopefully, waiting for some ice to melt to try a short float/drag and maybe get one.
 

Blacktailaddiction

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Nov 3, 2020
Messages
108
Hunting Sw Oregon again this year after a fun season last year. Curious for those who are seeing multiple bears a night in Oregon are you looking at multiple cuts or just a really big one? Most I’ve seen is 2 in one night and normally just see one a night. Is the key a really good vantage spot? I normally hike into one that’s the right age and just watch it really closely.
 
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