Best time for Oregon spring bear

[coast2peak]

Just spent 5 days in NE Oregon chasing spring bears. Only saw three bears in the 5 days. Saw lots of elk, mule deer, and whitetail. My question is regarding when to go. I was at about 4800 feet and there was no snow. Everything was starting to get green up including north facing slopes. I had a great time and love the spring in NE Oregon, my question is if you had just one week a year to hunt bears in this area what week would you choose? Would it depend on snow melt? Last week (last week of May) hoping for some rut activity? April for snow so you can narrow down the good areas easier? I’m a spring bear novice and felt like I hunted hard and should have seen more bears than I did!

 

[The Harbor Master]

Just spent 5 days in NE Oregon chasing spring bears. Only saw three bears in the 5 days. Saw lots of elk, mule deer, and whitetail. My question is regarding when to go. I was at about 4800 feet and there was no snow. Everything was starting to get green up including north facing slopes. I had a great time and love the spring in NE Oregon, my question is if you had just one week a year to hunt bears in this area what week would you choose? Would it depend on snow melt? Last week (last week of May) hoping for some rut activity? April for snow so you can narrow down the good areas easier? I’m a spring bear novice and felt like I hunted hard and should have seen more bears than I did!

Don't be too hard on yourself... I'm a novice too and I've hunted the last 2 weekends and saw zero bears! Three bears sounds pretty good...