Bear Hunt Timing

[JMasson]

Got a question for some more experienced bear hunters in the group. My eldest nephew (13) wants me to take him on a backcountry hunt. I am moving to Italy, in 3 days, for 36 months so I have plenty of time to plan and make sure he has the appropriate gear. I’m not new to backcountry hunting or bear hunting for that matter. I’m looking ahead to spring 2026 for this hunt. He will be 16, is very fit, is an incredibly talented soccer player, competitive cross country runner, recently started dabbling in weightlifting and has been hunting since he was 6. Im not worried about taking him into the wilderness for a week or more. He will be 16 when this hunt rolls around. Im open to suggestions for any OTC state but I’m leaning toward Idaho because of their season dates. He will start summer break on the second to last Saturday of May and Idaho’s season is still open for another month after he starts his break. I’ve not hunted bears that late into the spring (hunted Colorado and Arizona for bear) so my question is whether or not this will be good timing?

This is assuming that he gets his grades up and keeps them up. He’s going through a phase right now and his grades have really slipped. I’ve already told him that I won’t argue with his mother about taking him if his grades aren’t where they should be.

I don’t need unit advice, I can do all that research myself and have a former soldier of mine who lives in Idaho, that can give me some on the ground intel if I need it.

 

[Bc7mm]

Most of my bear hunting has been in British Columbia, Canada. The bears mating season here starts to ramp up mid-May to mid- June. This is when we do most of our hunting as the bigger boars are out and about.

 

[Ron.C]

Another BC hunter here. Im on Vancouver Island, a black bear hunters paradise.

In my area, we start seeing a few bears in early to mid April on west facing slopes that green up first. Late April, early May will be seeing far more and by mid May the hills seem to be crawling with them. My personal favourite time to hunt is the first 2 weeks of may. Enough bears are out to keep it interesting, food is still a little more concentrated as eveything has not greened up yet and weather is perfect.

But if you want to the best chance at seeing large breeding males, Agree 100% with BC 7mm that the closer you get to the near rut (early to mid June for us), the more large bears you see.

Downside of hunting late in the season is the weather. Can get downright hot. You need to be quick to get that hide off, meat off the bone and on ice as soon as possible.

 

[lang]

Last two weeks of May first week of June we always see more bears. Been baiting Idaho on and off for twenty years.

 

[LoggerDan]

On pow , third week of April